Taking stand for his beliefs

DURING HIS LONG AND ILLUSTRIOUS BUSINESS CAREER, GEORGE CHAPMAN, 79, HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID TO IGNORE THE DOUBTERS WHILE IN THE PURSUIT OF HIS MYRIAD PROJECTS, WRITES HAYDEN SMITH

George Chapman’s CV is longer than the iconic Cairns cableway he so famously brought to life, in the face of naysayers and tree-savers, more than two decades ago.

It’s been a wild ride to the top for the 79-year-old, who was last week inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame, sitting alongside the likes of Steve Irwin, Clem Jones and Qantas.

But Mr Chapman (above), the son of a bookmaker and now widely considered the elder statesman of Far North tourism, isn’t usually the reflective type.

GEORGE Chapman’s CV is longer than the iconic Cairns cableway he so famously brought to life, in the face of naysayers and tree-savers, more than two decades ago.

It’s been a wild ride to the top for the 79-year-old, who was last week inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame, sitting alongside the likes of Steve Irwin, Clem Jones and Qantas.

But Mr Chapman, the son of a bookmaker and now widely considered the elder statesman of Far North tourism, isn’t usually the reflective type.

“Skyrail staff did a Power- Point presentation for its 20th birthday (in 2015), and I thought it all just seemed like yesterday,” he said.

“But then I saw photos of me climbing around the rainforest and realised it must have been 20 years, because I couldn’t do that now.”

While far less hands-on these days, Mr Chapman will still on most mornings make the 700-metre journey from his penthouse at Harbour Lights – a blue-chip unit complex his company developed – to the Chapman Group headquarters on Grafton St.

Not because he must, but to satisfy an innate and curious business mind.

“I like to keep well in touch with everything. I don’t work until 5pm everyday, but it keeps the brain active,” Mr Chapman said.

Sitting in the Chapman Group board room – the walls of which are mostly bare save for a portrait of a raging Barron Falls – it is clear his passion for the region hasn’t waned since he was fighting to bring an international airport to Cairns while chairman of the Far North Queensland Development Bureau in the 1980s.

His passion hasn’t waned since he then took up the fight for Skyrail, a once maligned project now considered a global eco-tourism leader.

“I’ve never believed in following the herd. I make up my own mind because the majority is so often wrong,” he said.

“There actually were times when we thought we’d never make it (Skyrail).

“They brought in World Heritage listing; there was a change of government in Queensland when we were well on our way to getting approval, so we had to convince them …. and then all of these protesters, of course.

“But I believed it was right, and we got there.”

It’s hard to imagine, but Skyrail was just one of myriad business interests he has held over the past 30 years.

He rates his tenures as chairman of TV station Tele-

IT’S BEEN A WILD RIDE TO THE TOP FOR THE 79-YEAR-OLD, WHO WAS LAST WEEK INDUCTED INTO THE QUEENSLAND BUSINESS LEADERS HALL OF FAME